Paralyzed former player dies

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Former Texas Tech defensive tackle Stoney Garland, who was paralyzed in a car accident more than a decade ago, has died.

Garland, 33, died at his home in Plains on Wednesday, Tech's athletic department said in a statement Thursday.

In 1997, the 6-foot-6, 285-pound tackle transferred to Tech from Navarro Junior College and played one year under former Red Raiders coach Spike Dykes. In November of that year, Garland was riding with three others in the front seat of a pickup truck that rear-ended a car near campus.

Garland wasn't wearing a safety belt and his head hit the windshield. Garland spent the past 10 1/2 years in a wheelchair with movement limited to his head, neck and left arm.

Since 1998, proceeds from an annual golf tournament fundraiser have gone to the Stoney Garland Fund to help defray his medical costs. The tournament is Saturday in Lubbock, and all the proceeds will go to Garland's family, according to the release.